WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (AP) ― Shin Ji-yai
was in the middle of a solid round when a rain delay halted play at the LPGA
Tour’s Kingsmill Championship for 2 hours.
Facing a tough chip shot when she returned to the course, Shin spent the break worrying about how to handle it.
When she got the chance, she showed that she shouldn’t have worried at all.
“I left with a tough chip shot, like 20 yards to the hole,” Shin said after shooting a tournament-record 9-under 62 in Thursday’s first round. “I’m really worried. ... How can I practice? In my mind, it was really hard. When I went back to there, I chipped it in.”
The LPGA Tour initially said it would not count the round as a tournament record because the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their ball because of already soggy conditions. But when tournament director Wayne Nooe said he would count it, the LPGA agreed.
With 33 players still on the course when play was halted by darkness, the 24-year-old Shin, from South Korea, was two shots ahead of the field. Her round matched the lowest on tour this season, and eclipsed the previous mark of 63, shared by seven players.
Shin had nine birdies in her bogey-free, career-best round.
Ranked as the No. 1 player in the world for 16 weeks in 2010, Shin is chasing her first LPGA Tour victory in more than two years. She won the Women’s British Open in 2008 before it was a major, and is 13th on the money list with a third and two ties for third her best finishes. She missed two months for wrist surgery and recuperation.
“Finally, I can say golf course is not too hard,” said Shin, who is breaking in a new caddie this week. “My plan was no bogey. The rain helped make the greens softer, so I hit more aggressive on the back nine, too.”
Dewi Claire Schreefel of the Netherlands could get to 62, too, or lower. She used an eagle on the par-5 7th hole (her 16th) to reach 7 under before play was suspended for the day. Paula Creamer, Sweden’s Maria Hjorth and Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Beatriz Recari are at 6-under 65. Four others, including local favorite Christina Kim, finished at 66.
The tournament marks the return of the LPGA Tour to Kingsmill’s River Course after a two-year absence.
BMW Championship
CARMEL, Indiana (AP) ― Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. That includes the top of a busy leaderboard at the BMW Championship.
The biggest star in golf and his heir apparent put on a dazzling show Thursday at Crooked Stick, where the gallery caught a glimpse of the best players in the world for the first time since the 1991 PGA Championship.
McIlroy, flawless with his irons, birdied his last two holes for an 8-under 64 and was part of a four-way tie for the lead with Indiana native Bo Van Pelt, U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and Graham DeLaet, the Canadian who is quietly becoming the Cinderella of these FedEx Cup playoffs.
Just three days after McIlroy won the Deutsche Bank Championship, he looked just as impressive in the opening round at Crooked Stick.
“He hits it great, putts it great and top of that, he’s just a really nice kid,” Woods said in some of his strongest praise ever for another player. “The game of golf is in great hands with him, and he’s here to stay.”
Woods, who finished two shots behind Monday in Boston, isn’t going away quietly. He was only sharp when it came to scoring, making enough birdies to stay in the game, including a 30-foot chip-in on his last hole for a 65.
McIlroy had every reason to be a little flat because of the short turnaround from the Labor Day finish. But that wasn’t the case at the BMW Championship, not with fans lined three-deep down the entire 10th hole to see him and Woods in the same group for the second time in three weeks.
KLM Open
HILVERSUM, Netherlands (AP) ― Graeme Storm of England shot a course record 7-under 63 to lead the KLM Open by two shots in the opening round on Thursday.
Storm birdied three of his closing four holes on the Hilversumsche course. His effort was three shots fewer than his previous best score in the premier Dutch event.
“I made the birdies when I gave myself the chances, and I managed to get up and down when I missed the greens,” he said.
Storm teed up in the Netherlands ranked 353rd in the world. He wants to end the season inside the top 115 to retain full European Tour membership next season.
Martin Kaymer, Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti also surpassed the previous course record with their 5-under 65s to tie for second place.
Kaymer handed playing partner and Europe Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal a reminder of his capabilities before heading to the cup at Medinah outside of Chicago.
Kaymer, who won the KLM Open two years ago, capped his round with an eagle at the 12th where he holed a 20-foot putt.
Europe teammate Peter Hanson of Sweden also produced a 68 in his last event before the Ryder Cup.
Facing a tough chip shot when she returned to the course, Shin spent the break worrying about how to handle it.
When she got the chance, she showed that she shouldn’t have worried at all.
“I left with a tough chip shot, like 20 yards to the hole,” Shin said after shooting a tournament-record 9-under 62 in Thursday’s first round. “I’m really worried. ... How can I practice? In my mind, it was really hard. When I went back to there, I chipped it in.”
The LPGA Tour initially said it would not count the round as a tournament record because the players were allowed to lift, clean and place their ball because of already soggy conditions. But when tournament director Wayne Nooe said he would count it, the LPGA agreed.
 |
| Korea’s Shin Ji-yai hits her tee shot on the ninth hole on Thursday. (AFP-Yonhap News) |
With 33 players still on the course when play was halted by darkness, the 24-year-old Shin, from South Korea, was two shots ahead of the field. Her round matched the lowest on tour this season, and eclipsed the previous mark of 63, shared by seven players.
Shin had nine birdies in her bogey-free, career-best round.
Ranked as the No. 1 player in the world for 16 weeks in 2010, Shin is chasing her first LPGA Tour victory in more than two years. She won the Women’s British Open in 2008 before it was a major, and is 13th on the money list with a third and two ties for third her best finishes. She missed two months for wrist surgery and recuperation.
“Finally, I can say golf course is not too hard,” said Shin, who is breaking in a new caddie this week. “My plan was no bogey. The rain helped make the greens softer, so I hit more aggressive on the back nine, too.”
Dewi Claire Schreefel of the Netherlands could get to 62, too, or lower. She used an eagle on the par-5 7th hole (her 16th) to reach 7 under before play was suspended for the day. Paula Creamer, Sweden’s Maria Hjorth and Spaniards Azahara Munoz and Beatriz Recari are at 6-under 65. Four others, including local favorite Christina Kim, finished at 66.
The tournament marks the return of the LPGA Tour to Kingsmill’s River Course after a two-year absence.
BMW Championship
CARMEL, Indiana (AP) ― Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy seem to be spending a lot of time together lately. That includes the top of a busy leaderboard at the BMW Championship.
The biggest star in golf and his heir apparent put on a dazzling show Thursday at Crooked Stick, where the gallery caught a glimpse of the best players in the world for the first time since the 1991 PGA Championship.
McIlroy, flawless with his irons, birdied his last two holes for an 8-under 64 and was part of a four-way tie for the lead with Indiana native Bo Van Pelt, U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson and Graham DeLaet, the Canadian who is quietly becoming the Cinderella of these FedEx Cup playoffs.
Just three days after McIlroy won the Deutsche Bank Championship, he looked just as impressive in the opening round at Crooked Stick.
“He hits it great, putts it great and top of that, he’s just a really nice kid,” Woods said in some of his strongest praise ever for another player. “The game of golf is in great hands with him, and he’s here to stay.”
Woods, who finished two shots behind Monday in Boston, isn’t going away quietly. He was only sharp when it came to scoring, making enough birdies to stay in the game, including a 30-foot chip-in on his last hole for a 65.
McIlroy had every reason to be a little flat because of the short turnaround from the Labor Day finish. But that wasn’t the case at the BMW Championship, not with fans lined three-deep down the entire 10th hole to see him and Woods in the same group for the second time in three weeks.
KLM Open
HILVERSUM, Netherlands (AP) ― Graeme Storm of England shot a course record 7-under 63 to lead the KLM Open by two shots in the opening round on Thursday.
Storm birdied three of his closing four holes on the Hilversumsche course. His effort was three shots fewer than his previous best score in the premier Dutch event.
“I made the birdies when I gave myself the chances, and I managed to get up and down when I missed the greens,” he said.
Storm teed up in the Netherlands ranked 353rd in the world. He wants to end the season inside the top 115 to retain full European Tour membership next season.
Martin Kaymer, Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti also surpassed the previous course record with their 5-under 65s to tie for second place.
Kaymer handed playing partner and Europe Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal a reminder of his capabilities before heading to the cup at Medinah outside of Chicago.
Kaymer, who won the KLM Open two years ago, capped his round with an eagle at the 12th where he holed a 20-foot putt.
Europe teammate Peter Hanson of Sweden also produced a 68 in his last event before the Ryder Cup.
No comments:
Post a Comment